V. S. Gorelik

Raman scattering in sodium nitrite crystals near the phase transition

Optical Raman spectra of a ferroelectric sodium nitrite crystal have been detected in a wide spectrum range at various temperatures, including the region of the ferroelectric phase transition. A manifestation of a transverse soft polar mode of the A1(z) type responsible for the ferroelectric phase transition has been discovered in the spectrum at room temperature. This mode has been found to become overdamped even far from the ferroelectric phase transition temperature. This mode also appears as a central peak under heating. It has been found that the pseudoscalar mode of the A2 type has the highest intensity in the Raman spectrum of sodium nitrite. The frequency corresponding to the maximum intensity of this mode in the Raman spectrum varies from 130 cm–1 at 123 K to 106 cm–1 at T = 513 K. A fair agreement of the experimental data for the A1(z) mode with the Lyddane–Sachs–Teller relation has been established. The polariton curves for the A1(z) polar mode and the dispersion curves for axinons has been plotted.

Tb3+ photoluminescence in mesoporous glasses, terbium nitrate and terbium chloride hexahydrates, and coordination compounds

We have compared the intensity and shape of photoluminescence spectra of Tb3+ ions in mesoporous glasses, inorganic phosphors (terbium nitrate and terbium chloride hexahydrates), and coordination compounds (terbium benzoate, terbium o-phenoxybenzoate, and terbium terephthalate). The excitation sources used were a repetitively pulsed nitrogen laser with an emission wavelength of 337 nm and cw semiconductor light-emitting diodes with wavelengths of 369 and 385 nm. It has been shown that the highest photoluminescence intensity normalized by the percentage of terbium is offered by terbium terephthalate and terbium- doped mesoporous glass. We are thus led to conclude that introducing terbium terephthalate into the pores of mesoporous photonic glass and mesoporous photonic crystals is a promising approach for obtaining efficient laser operation in the green spectral region on the 5D4–7F5 transition of the terbium ion.

Conversion of short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation in SiO2 opal photonic crystals

Reflection spectra of the (111) growth surface of opal photonic crystals differing in silica sphere diameter have been measured under illumination with narrowband ultraviolet and violet light from a laser and light-emitting diodes and with broadband light from a halogen lamp. We have found narrow strong bands differing in spectral position from the light from the short-wavelength excitation sources. The spectral position of these bands corresponds to that of photonic band gaps and is independent of excitation wavelength. The silica sphere diameter has no effect on the shape of the reflection band, and its position always correlates with that of the band gap of the opal. The present results demonstrate that exposure of a photonic crystal to short-wavelength radiation leads to conversion of the radiation to the spectral range of the band gap. The microscopic mechanism of the conversion process may involve three-photon parametric processes and amplification of the broadband photoluminescence due to structural defects in the silica matrix. Our results open up the possibility of creating new types of optically pumped solid gain media based on opal photonic crystals.

Resonance excitation of photoluminescence in sodium uranyl acetate crystals

The photoluminescence spectra of sodium uranyl acetate polycrystals are recorded under excitation by different sources (semiconductor light-emitting diodes, cw lasers, and repetitively pulsed lasers). The excitation wavelengths fall into the absorption band of this solid, which makes it possible to record photoluminescence beginning from an extremely small volume of the material (10–10 cm3) at exposures of ~10–3 s.

Dispersion relation of acoustic waves in phononic crystals filled with dielectric or metal

The results of the theoretical study of acoustic properties of globular phononic crystals based on artificial opals consisting of closely packed SiO2 globules ∼200 nm in diameter are presented. Dispersion characteristics of the samples under study were calculated, the group velocity and effective mass of phonons were determined.

Secondary emission of nanocrystalline zinc oxide

The Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectra of nanocrystalline zinc oxide produced by mechanochemical synthesis were measured using a pulsed nitrogen laser (337.1 nm) and xenon lamp (360 nm) as excitation sources in PL measurements and a cw Nd:YAG laser in Raman measurements. PL was observed in the range 400–800 nm. The Raman spectrum of nanocrystalline (90 nm) ZnO was compared to that of coarsegrained ZnO. The Raman bands of nanocrystalline zinc oxide were found to be shifted to lower frequencies and broadened. Laser radiation was shown to cause local heating of zinc oxide up to 1000 K, resulting in photoinduced formation of zinc nanoclusters. Mixtures of zinc oxide and sodium chloride powders are heated to substantially lower temperatures. Under nitrogen laser excitation, the green PL band (535 nm), characteristic of bulk ZnO, is shifted to longer wavelengths by 85 nm. The results are interpreted in terms of light confinement in zinc oxide microclusters consisting of large number of nanocrystallites. The photoinduced processes in question may be a viable approach to producing metal-insulator structures in globular photonic crystals, opals, filled with zinc oxide.

Production of pseudoscalar bosons upon stimulated Raman scattering in dielectric media

Conditions for the emergence of pseudoscalar vibrational excitations in the spectra of spontaneous and stimulated Raman scattering in molecular liquids and crystals are determined. The spectra of spontaneous and stimulated Raman scattering by pseudoscalar bosons are measured experimentally for several liquids and crystals.

Nanocomposites based on globular photonic crystals grown by laser ablation using femtosecond laser pulses

The prepared samples were characterized by reflection and transmission spectra of broadband visible-range radiation, and the volume fraction of substances introduced into pores of artificial opals is estimated. It is found that the introduction of solid-state nanoparticles with negative real part of the permittivity into opal pores results in a decrease in the effective refractive index and a short-wavelength shift in the spectral position of the stop band in artificial opal.

Transmission Spectra and Optical Properties of a Mesoporous Photonic Crystal Based on Anodic Aluminum Oxide

Optical properties of a one-dimensional photonic-crystal film with a lattice period of ≈380 nm formed by electrochemical etching of an aluminum foil are investigated. Experimental data on the spectra of transmission and reflection in the region of the first, second, and third stop bands of anodic photonic crystal of aluminum oxide are compared with a theoretical dependence obtained from the well-known dispersion relation. The possibility of creating selective narrow-band optical filters based on mesoporous one-dimensional photonic crystals is analyzed. The conditions of enhancement of an electromagnetic field of laser radiation at 532 nm under normal incidence on a photonic-crystal surface are established. The possibility of generation of optical harmonics under the conditions of sharp increase in the effective field of the driving radiation in a mesoporous photonic crystal of anodic aluminum oxide filled with lithium iodate is analyzed.

Reflection spectra of 1D photonic crystals based on aluminum oxide

Optical properties (transmission and reflection) of 1D photonic crystals (PCs) based on mesoporous anodic aluminum oxide with the lattice periods of 188 and 194nm are investigated. The experimentally measured reflection spectrum is compared in its first bandgap region with the theoretical dependence obtained from the dispersion relation for the 1D PC. Angular dependence is established for spectral positions of bandgaps in the 1D PC. A possibility of using mesoporous aluminum-oxide-based 1D PCs as narrow-band filters, narrow-band mirrors, and refractive sensors of molecular compounds is analyzed.